Letters To The Editor

Many people say that our troubles with young people began when prayer was taken out of schools. I suggest that perhaps those troubles started when prayer was taken out of homes.

FOR THE RECORD - Published correction ran Saturday, July 24, 1999.Improper editing created errors in a letter to the editor entitled "Micromanagement" on Thursday's editorial page. The statement printed in the letter, "This company, which will expand our industrial tax base to help offset the burden on homeowners, will be located in one of our targeted industrial development parks and provide jobs that Jack Edwards proposed" should have read: "This company, which will expand our industrial tax base to help offset the burden on homeowners, will be in one of our targeted industrial development parks and provide jobs with good pay, upward mobility and benefits, would not have passed the new screening criteria that Jack Edwards has proposed." The letter also incorrectly said the economic development screening criteria would require a company to invest $235,000 per employee; the correct figure is $125,000. (The text of this document has been changed to reflect the correction.)

When we parents give our children moral guidelines and we try to observe those moral guidelines in our own lives and adhere to our own religious beliefs, it doesn't matter whether or not the school day starts with a public generic prayer.

In all probability, the child's day started at home with a prayer. That's what really counts.

Additionally, if the Ten Commandments were to be posted in schools, there would be controversy over which version would be acceptable. We might solve that problem by posting the statement that was printed above the chalkboard when I entered first grade. It read, "Do unto others as you would have other do unto you."

That rule summarizes the behavior we expect from one another and leaves the teaching of religion to parents.

Anne Korff

Newport News

Micromanagement

John Deere, the latest company to locate a manufacturing facility in James City County, would not be here today if Supervisors Jack Edwards, Andy Bradshaw and John McGlennon had their way.

This company, which will expand our industrial tax base to help offset the burden on homeowners, will be in one of our targeted industrial development parks and provide jobs with good pay, upward mobility and benefits, would not have passed the new screening criteria that Jack Edwards has proposed.

New screening criteria that Jack Edwards proposed would require a company to invest $125,000 per employee to be considered by the county. Ron Nervitt correctly pointed out that a decision like this would be arbitrary and that successfully attracting new companies to the county is far too complex a process.

Additionally, adopting Edwards' proposal would telegraph to other competing localities what cards James City County is playing in the incredibly competitive contests to acquire coveted companies. Had John Deere seen Edwards' criteria upon their initial inquiries about James City, they undoubtedly would have stricken the county from their list of potential sites. More than 300 well paying jobs, approximately $400,000 of revenue to the tax base per year and untold millions in spending revenues and additional revenues from coattail suppliers, would have never materialized.

Edwards might not fully comprehend the likely damage done to our county's image with potential corporate suitors by his decision to even bring forth this proposal.

Headlines like the one that appeared in the June 25 Daily Press reading "JCC supervisor would limit incentives," send a chilling message to companies looking to locate in our region.

Indeed, it may have already done irreparable damage to companies currently being courted by the county. If this proposal appeared to only enjoy the support of Edwards, the situation would be manageable, but the failure of Bradshaw and McGlennon to break from Edwards, as is so frequently the case, makes the situation much more precarious.

This is not my idea of good government. It is instead an indication of unnecessary micro- management by some on the Board of Supervisors that have either not taken the time to think through the ramifications of such a move, or simply do not understand them.

Jim Kennedy

Toano

Parental partners

Over the past 25 years we have learned that children from all socioeconomic backgrounds excel academically and socially when parents stay involved with their children's education. I have seen it in my own practice as a clinical psychologist.

Good things happen when parents develop a personal relationship with their children's teachers and their school's administrators. They ask questions about the school's curriculum, requirements and procedures. They attend PTA meetings, serve on committees and volunteer, when possible, for various school programs or projects. They make sure that homework and other assignments are done conscientiously and on time. They take the time to improve their own skills in order to provide better help to their children.

By staying involved their children get the message that education is not only an important family value, but that it is also a shared family responsibility.

Partnership can mean many things and the 1998- 2003 Strategic Plan for the Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools already lists several:

* Increasing the number of adult community members who serve from 10 to 20 hours of volunteer school service by 5 percent each year;

* Collaborating with community resources to offer a community mentor for all students defined at- risk;

* Collaborate with community resources to develop after-school and summer programs that will enhance the academic, artistic, musical, and athletic talents of students and school facilities and grounds will be available for community use.

These ideas are in their infancy, and we have very little information about how best to achieve them.

My own experience in the schools has shown me the value of direct parental involvement in the classroom. Increasing the number of people who actively volunteer in the classroom would help more parents to have a stake in their children's education and would likely change the whole climate within the school.

Yet as this list shows, partnership is a much broader idea, which will require planning by the schools and resources from the school board.

Wes Campbell

Williamsburg

Answered prayer

Bishop Sullivan speaking out on behalf of the shipyard workers is an answer to my morning prayer on the 37th Street Gate picket line.

The faithful as faithful and the clergy as clergy would also be most welcome there.